Update 6/11,
I received my 7Artisans 135 f1.8 lens, it is a really well made lens, the focus ring action is smooth and precise.
This lens is very sharp, much sharper than my Nikon 85 f1.8G lens. I'm still figuring out the AF, it doesn't seem to lock onto small focus areas ex. a small branch in shadows as well as my Nikon 24-120 f4 Z does, using a Z9.
Is it the extremely shallow DOF? Another firmware update needed? or adjusting the AF delay setting?
I've had limited time to play with it.
So far this looks like a very good lens, I'm working on getting a Nikon 135 Plena to compare it to.
Here is the most recent mini review for the 7Artisans 135mm lens. Looks like the latest lens firmware update took care of the early AF issues it had. It looks very promising, so I have one ordered and will be shooting with is next week.
Update 6/17,
I was able to compare the 7Artisans 135mm lens against a Nikon 135mm Plena, here are my observations.
The 7Artisans135 was tested on a Nikon Z6 ll and the Nikon 135 Plena on a Z6 lll, using AF-S single point
Sharpness is close between the Nikon and 7Artisans 135mm lenses. Nikon a hair sharper at f1.8
by f4 it's a toss-up.
AF is a mixed bag because a 135mm @ f1.8 has a really shallow DOF, the Plena got lost a bit when
focusing close on a flower, the 7Artisans was worse trying to focus on the same flower, it also had trouble
focusing if there was a bright area near the focus point, it tending to wanting to lock on that.
But after review the Plena did better with AF overall, in good daylight with good contrast on the focus areas both lenses AF speeds were close. In areas with low contrast the Plena was much better.
The 7Artisans struggled with low contrast focus areas, with good contrast targets it locked on well.
Bokeh, the Plena had more circular out of focus balls over the whole image, the 7Artisans had some cat eye near the edges of the frame. The Plena had a better transition from in focus to out of focus.
I didn't find the 7Artisans too bad at all.
The 7Artisans images were warmer vs the Plenas which is more neutral, Looking at why other than the lens coating differences.
I contacted 7Artisans about a future lens firmware update and they replied nothing being worked on after the v1.21 for now, but my problem was sent to their techs to review.
Edited 6/28
The 7Artisans 135 f1.8 is an interesting lens, but the shallow DOF is problematic for all 135 fast lenses, as the focus can be tricky on busy low contrast focus points, the Plena also had some AF issues but was better than the 7Artisans 135 lens.
The 7Artisans 135mm AF being as it is, auto focuses on my Z9 better than my Z6 ll, Hopefully 7Artisans can get another
lens firmware out to improve the AF performance which would make this lens go from very good to excellent IMO.
The 7 Artisans135mm is a nice lens for under $700 and can be a good choice for those who don't want to spend
$2500 for a Plena or don't want to haul the 1300g Viltrox 135mm lens around.
Bit the bullet when Amazon listed a "Like New" copy of the E-mount version for 500 bucks. I love 7artisans rendering, which is the closest you can get to the modern Nikon Z line on Sony, and very much enjoyed their 85mm f1.8, but eventually sold it because there was something slightly odd about the colors and it had serious flaring issues in the corners. Those issues looked to be fixed in this new 135mm from the reviews and indeed they are. Gorgeous lens! The autofocus is as middling as the reviews say but hopefully a firmware update will improve that.
Review by Klaus over at OpticalLimits (aka Photozone.de).
Looks a little weaker optically than the Viltrox, the Samyang or the Sony GM (but still pretty good). How relevant that is for your shooting is of course the question only you can answer. https://opticallimits.com/nikon/nikon-z/7artisans-af-135mm-f-1-8-max-z-review/
RoamingScott wrote:
Am I crazy to think it would be more fun to adapt the old Canon 135L instead of using these cheap third-party lenses?
More fun sure, but optically it's weak at wide apertures compared to any of the current options.
But since it's out of support from Canon, you can get them stupid cheap if you have an AF-capable EF adapter. If you don't already have the adapter, you're paying more and getting less once you factor in an expensive adapter into the mix. If you only have an MF adapters, I'd get a 135DC or a ZF.2 135/2 instead.
